Central to the University of Waterloo’s mission is the creation and dissemination of knowledge. As new scholars, graduate students are expected to disclose and publicly defend their research results to ensure review from their peers and acceptance and inclusion of their findings in open scholarly discourse. At times, graduate students may wish to protect their research results, particularly when they contain material of commercial or marketable value, or when restricted by a publication agreement. Similarly, students may require accessibility accommodations or engage in sensitive research areas which may present personal risks. These unique circumstances may result in a thesis and/or thesis defence being Held Without Public Disclosure.
The following theses have been submitted to the Faculty of Science Graduate Office and are available, unless otherwise noted, for review by any member of the University during the display period only. The display period is the time between the posting of the thesis and the examination date.
March PhD Defences
Tuesday, March 3, 2026 at 9:00:00 AM
PhD Candidate: Gyorgy JAICS
Title: Investigation of Magneto-Optical and Photonic Properties of Plasmonic Tungsten Oxide and Alkali Tungsten Bronze Nanocrystals
Supervisor: Pavle Radovanovic
Department: Chemistry
Location/Method: Remote via MS TEAMS
Thursday, March 5, 2026 at 12:00:00 PM
PhD Candidate: Boyao TIAN
Title: Development of a Coupled Hydro-Economic Model to Support Groundwater Irrigation Decisions
Supervisor: Andrea Brookfield
Department: Earth and Environmental Sciences
Location/Method: EIT 2053
Friday, March 6, 2026 at 10:30:00 AM
PhD Candidate: David HILGER
Title: Hydrogeological, Mineralogical, and Geochemical Characterization of a Gold Mine Tailings Containment Area at the Giant Mine, NT
Supervisor: Carol Ptacek and David Blowes
Department: Earth and Environmental Sciences
Location/Method: EIT 2053
Friday, March 6, 2026 at 1:00:00 PM
PhD Candidate: Christopher XU
Title: Analog Emulation of Hyperbolic Space with and Coherence Effects in Superconducting Circuits
Supervisor: Raffi Budakian and Matteo Mariantoni
Department: Physics and Astronomy
Location/Method: QNC 2101
Wednesday, March 25, 2026 at 2:00:00 PM
PhD Candidate: Marie-Joelle GINGRAS
Title: Complex Dynamics of Multiphase Gas in X-ray Cooling Cores
Supervisor: Brian McNamara and Alison Coil
Department: Physics and Astronomy
Location/Method: Remote via MS TEAMS
Thursday, March 26, 2026 at 2:30:00 PM
PhD Candidate: Sanchit SRIVASTAVA
Title: Operational witnesses of non-classicality via Bell inequalities and contextuality
Supervisor: Robert Mann and Shohini Ghose
Department: Physics and Astronomy
Location/Method: QNC 2101
April PhD Defences
Wednesday, April 1, 2026 at 10:00:00 AM
PhD Candidate: Sam HIRNIAK
Title: Economic evaluations of hemophilia A interventions in Canada
Supervisor: Andrea Edginton and William WL Wong
Department: School of Pharmacy
Location/Method: Remote via MS TEAMS
Thursday, April 2, 2026 at 9:30:00 AM
PhD Candidate: Devashish TUPKARY
Title: Rigorous Security Proofs for Practical Quantum Key Distribution
Supervisor: Norbert Lütkenhaus
Department: Physics and Astronomy
Location/Method: QNC 2101
Tuesday, April 7, 2026 at 9:00:00 AM
PhD Candidate: Karyn ROBICHAUD
Title: Investigating mitochondrial microRNAs in response to metabolic disruption
Supervisor: Paul Craig
Department: Biology
Location/Method: MC 2017
Tuesday, April 7, 2026 at 9:00:00 AM
PhD Candidate: Pei LI
Title: Development of Nanozyme and Nanozyme-Enhanced Electrode for Electrochemical Lactate Sensing
Supervisor: Shirley Tang
Department: Chemistry
Location/Method: Remote via MS TEAMS
Tuesday, April 7, 2026 at 10:00:00 AM
PhD Candidate: Paula JOFILY DE LIMA RANGEL
Title: Computational Structural Biology in Modern Integrative Discovery Pipelines
Supervisor: Subha Kalyaanamoorthy
Department: Chemistry
Location/Method: C2 361
Tuesday, April 7, 2026 at 1:00:00 PM
PhD Candidate: Christian THERRIEN
Title: The effect of exotic species on native species reintroductions: Ontario’s lake trout reintroductions
Supervisor: Heidi Swanson
Department: Biology
Location/Method: B1 266
Wednesday, April 8, 2026 at 9:00:00 AM
PhD Candidate: Alexander UMBACH
Title: Ecology of nitrifiers within engineered freshwater systems
Supervisor: Josh Neufeld
Department: Biology
Location/Method: B1 266
Wednesday, April 8, 2026 at 9:30:00 AM
PhD Candidate: Mira MAXIMOS
Title: Sex- and-Gender-Based Analyses of Penicillin Allergy Labels, Outcomes, and Delabeling Interventions
Supervisor: John-Michael Gamble
Department: School of Pharmacy
Location/Method: Remote via MS TEAMS
Thursday, April 16, 2026 at 3:00:00 PM
PhD Candidate: Alexandra KUNERT
Title: Late Paleoproterozoic ocean redox history from sedimentary thallium and uranium isotopes and implications for eukaryotic evolution
Supervisor: Brian Kendall
Department: Earth and Environmental Sciences
Location/Method: Remote via MS TEAMS
March MSc Defences
Thursday, March 19, 2026 at 1:00:00 PM
MSc Candidate: Michela CONTURSI
Title: Behaviour and Social Organization of Little Brown Bats during Dawn Swarming
Supervisor: Hugh Broders
Department: Biology
Location/Method: STC 2002
Tuesday, March 24, 2026 at 12:30:00 PM
MSc Candidate: Anna FFRENCH
Title: Targeted Gene Delivery to Astrocytes Using Intelligent Phagemid-Assembled Gene Expression (iPhAGE) Technology for Neuronal Regeneration
Supervisor: Roderick Slavcev and Mike Beazely
Department: School of Pharmacy
Location/Method: PHR 7007
Thursday, March 26, 2026 at 10:00:00 AM
MSc Candidate: Tanner CLOW
Title: Characterizing the effects of diel temperature fluctuations on thermal and hypoxia tolerance in adult zebrafish
Supervisor: Paul Craig
Department: Biology
Location/Method: STC 2002